CONFERENCE GOALS
Our goal is to discover strategies and steps that one can take to help preserve Indigenous culture, as well as to gain insight into how these strategies/steps can be made more readily accessible to the Canadian public. 

AREA OF RESEARCH 
Our team will be researching the impact that colonialism has had on the culture of the First Nations People in Canada. Through literary articles and narratives from those who have experienced firsthand the effects of colonialism on their culture, we aim to gain a better understanding of what exactly happened and how and why the effects of colonialism can be felt by many individuals in Indigenous societies, even today.

MEMBER BIOGRAPHY
Deepak Nijjer
Hello everyone! I am currently a 4th year Sociology student born and raised in New Westminster, B.C. My area of interest is in raising awareness regarding the impact of Colonialism on the First Nations people of Canada. Moreover, I believe that this awareness needs to be raised beginning in the elementary school system which could educate young individuals on the colonial impact that has shaped Canada and allow for a widespread of Indigenous cultural acceptance amongst today’s youth to further prevent discrimination and challenge stereotypes. 

Victoria Woo
Hi everyone! I am a third year UBC Arts student majoring in English literature and possibly minoring in Philosophy. I was born and raised in Surrey, BC. For this conference project, I plan to narrow my focus in on the effects that Canada’s colonization and cultural genocide of the Indigenous population has had on Indigenous women in particular. Throughout the conference, I hope to consult with various mediums— whether they be films, literature, or stories, in order to gain a better understanding of the insidious effects Canada’s historical past has had on Indigenous women. In doing so, I hope to discover some strategies which non-Indigenous people can put forth towards aiding reconciliation on both an individual and nationwide level.

Mia Calder
Hi there! I am going into my fourth year at UBC in September, and *fingers crossed* will be graduating in April. Sometime next year I plan to move to France. Probably not Paris, but some sleepy town in Provence sounds just right. To do so requires some familiarity with the French language, so along with majoring in English literature I have taken French courses and French might possibly end up as my minor. I took English 470 because it was a requirement for my degree, but also because I was interested in learning about Native American myths/stories. I was pleasantly surprised by the things given to us to read throughout the course, and I hope that this conference project will open up new avenues of discussion and thought as different teams interact with one another. In particular I want to look at the intersection of literature and orality — why, for instance, literature is held as superior to orality when both are necessary for communication

Amelia Yap
Hello! I am a 4th year Computer Science student at UBC, hoping to graduate this coming May as well. Although I was born in Singapore, I moved to Vancouver more than 10 years ago and have lived here ever since. I took this course in an effort to branch out of my area of study and learn more about the stories of the Indigenous people and culture of Canada. My particular area of interest lies in how colonialism has impacted these people throughout Canadian history, and how we can help them to reestablish their culture and reconcile with the past by spreading awareness around this topic. I am especially intrigued by the power of storytelling and literature, and how, through these mediums, we can aid and educate those around us in society today on the events that happened in the past as a result of colonialism in early Canada.

In her 2013 Tedx talk, Gabrielle Scrimshaw (co-founder of the non-profit Aboriginal Professionals) encourages her audience to inspire conversation about the Indigenous population. We as a group felt this video coincided well with our conference goals— discovering steps we can collectively take to create awareness and to help preserve Indigenous culture. Gabrielle sets the tone accordingly by citing Canadian Aboriginals as the fastest growing demographic in the nation, also noting that Indigenous youth will possess the country’s greatest future earning potential in the next decade. Drawing from her own personal experiences as a Hatchet Lake First Nations woman, Gabrielle explains just how imperative conversation and exposure of the Indigenous experience is; her talk also contains practical tactics for striving towards a more hopeful future for Indigenous youth. While she does touch on how Canada’s colonial past has negatively affected her people, Gabrielle ultimately urges that belief and hope will catalyse change and lead to a brighter future for Indigenous peoples, as well as a more conscious future for non-Indigenous people.

Works Cited

A Brighter Future through Indigenous Prosperity: Gabrielle Scrimshaw at TEDxToronto. Perf. Gabrielle Scrimshaw. Youtube. TedX, 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 5 Aug. 2016.

Looking Unto Jesus. N.d. United Church of Canada Archives, Red Deer. Basics Community News Service. DW Focus, 10 Oct. 2013. Web. 3 Aug. 2016.